Council Approves Severance for Auto Inspection

Memphis City Council members approved Tuesday, April 16, a severance package for city workers at auto inspection stations as talks continue among the city, county and state governments about who will operate the emissions testing at those stations.

Council members voted last year to end all city funding of the stations and the testing effective June 30, the end of the current fiscal year.

The resolution by council member Lee Harris provides for two and a half years of pay and continuing health insurance coverage for two and a half years in what amounts to a $400,000 expense Harris proposed to pay from city reserve funds.

If the city continues to fund the emissions testing after June 30, the resolution would be void.

The council also approved on third and final reading a set of amendments to the Unified Development Code that were approved Monday by the Shelby County Commission.

In other action, the council approved the appointment of Pace Cooper as the newest member of the Memphis-Shelby County Airport Authority Board.

The council also approved a planned development at Greenlaw and North Fifth Street that is a parking lot and possible expansion area for Memphis College Preparatory Elementary School.

The council voted down a resolution appropriating $99,213 for sewer repairs to the Cedar Creek Sewer extension in an area in the Memphis annexation reserve area but not in the city of Memphis.

Council members questioned the 50-50 split with a developer the administration could not identify at a time when the city is not moving to annex any areas.

– Bill Dries

CBIZ Memphis Hosts Conference Next Month

The Memphis office of CBIZ MHM is hosting a CFO/Controller Conference next month at the Fogelman Executive Center on the University of Memphis campus.

The event on May 14 will run from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Presentations will focus on providing CFOs and controllers with direction on addressing current challenges within their respective organizations.

Topics will include the current business lending environment, data breach and security standards, hiring practices, and the Affordable Care Act.

Attendees can register for the conference online (http://cfocontrollerconfmay2013.eventbrite.com) for a fee of $50, which includes the cost of breakfast and lunch.

For more information about CBIZ Memphis and the CFO/Controller Conference Series, visit www.cbizmemphis.com.

– Andy Meek

Family Safety Center Adds New Partner Organizations

The Family Safety Center, an organization that provides services to victims of family violence, said it recently added Adoption Counseling Services Inc., Friends for Life Corp., and Memphis Shelby Crime Commission to its list of partner organizations.

The Memphis Shelby Crime Commission played a key role in the formation of the Family Safety Center, but only recently became an official partner. Adoption Counseling Services provides counseling and child placement services for expectant parents, while Friends for Life assists people affected by and living with HIV and AIDS.

Olliette Murry-Drobot, executive director of the Family Safety Center, says each of the organization’s partners offers specific services that can address the varied needs of family violence victims.

– Jennifer Johnson Backer

State Must Release Information in Child Deaths

The state Department of Children’s Services must turn over to the media records from the case files of 50 children who died or nearly died after the agency became involved with them.

Davidson County Chancellor Carol McCoy on Wednesday also ordered that the state must bear the cost of redacting identifying information from the records. The media organizations will pay the cost of making copies.

The group of plaintiffs is led by The Tennessean newspaper and includes The Associated Press.

In September, The Tennessean requested the records of all the children involved with DCS who had died or nearly died between 2009 and mid-2012. The state produced only bare-bones summaries and later acknowledged it did not know how many children had died during that period.

– The Associated Press

Arkansas House Passes Registration for Canvassers

The Arkansas House has passed a bill that requires people paid to gather signatures for ballot proposals to register with the state and undergo training.

The House on Wednesday passed the bill 78-9, a vote that followed the Senate’s approval last month. The bill goes to the governor for his signature.

Backers said the bill would make canvassers more accountable to the state and would discourage fraud. But opponents said the bill could impact volunteers and will make it harder to get proposed constitutional amendments and initiated acts on the ballot.

The bill by Sen. Keith Ingram, a Democrat from West Memphis, is part of Attorney General Dustin McDaniel’s legislative agenda and is in response to invalid signatures submitted for some measures last year.

– The Associated Press

Oil Drops on Demand Concerns

More signs of weak demand for fuel in the U.S. sank the price of oil by nearly 3 percent.

The Energy Department said Wednesday that demand for gasoline over the four weeks ended April 12 was 3.3 percent less than a year earlier, averaging 8.4 million barrels a day. The weekly report indicated that use of distillates like heating oil and diesel was light as well.

The Energy Department said gasoline supplies fell last week by 600,000 barrels, only half the amount expected by analysts. At 221.7 million barrels, the nation’s supply of gasoline is 3.6 percent above year-ago levels. Wholesale gasoline futures dropped 7 cents to $2.71 a gallon.

In addition, supplies of distillate fuel posted a surprise increase of 2.4 million barrels. Analysts expected a decline of 850,000 barrels.

The drop in demand follows some weak U.S. economic data, starting two weeks ago with a disappointing employment report.

Oil has fallen sharply in the past week, part of a broad sell-off in commodities that included gold recording its biggest one-day drop in 30 years, due mainly to lower-than-expected growth in China during the first quarter of the year. Oil is now down about $8 a barrel, or nearly 9 percent, since last Wednesday.

On Tuesday the International Monetary Fund lowered its outlook for world economic growth this year to 3.3 percent from its January forecast of 3.5 percent. It expects U.S. economic growth of 1.9 percent this year, down from a January estimate of 2.1 percent, while the IMF sees the combined economy of the 17 eurozone countries shrinking 0.3 percent in 2013.